This invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an ejected sheet stacking device which is selectively used in this image forming apparatus.
At present, what is called a multi-function machine, that is, an image forming apparatus having a copying function, a facsimile function, and a printer function is broadly utilized.
For such an image forming apparatus, from the view point of making small the occupied area for installation for example, it has been known such one employing so-called an inner tray method that is provided with a sheet ejection part formed in a hollow place to open to the outside through the outer housing and is also provided with a sheet storing mechanism for storing sheets in this sheet ejection part.
FIG. 6 is an illustration showing in broad outline an example of the structure of an image forming apparatus employing a conventional inner tray method as seen from the front direction. This image forming apparatus 60 has a sheet ejection part 63 formed in a hollow place 62 which is formed in such a manner as to open to the outside through the front surface (the surface parallel to the paper surface in the drawing) of the outer housing 61 and through the one side surface (the right-hand side surface in the drawing), and in this sheet ejection part 63, a sheet storing mechanism 63A for storing sheets ejected from a sheet ejection opening is provided.
In the outer housing 61, there are arranged an image formation part 65 for practicing image formation on the basis of original image information which has been read by a document scanning part 64, and a paper feed unit 66 storing sheets to be fed to this image formation part 65, in the state that they are arrayed in the up-and-down direction. In this drawing, 67 denotes a conveyance part for conveying sheets such as plain paper sheets for example, and 68 denotes a fixing part for fixing a toner image formed on a sheet.
In this image forming apparatus 60, a sheet having a visible image formed in the image formation part 65 is conveyed by the conveyance part 67 in the horizontal direction under the hollow place 62, and is subjected to fixing processing in a fixing part 68; then, it is conveyed upward through an upward-extending conveyance path 70, and is ejected from the sheet ejection opening by ejection rollers 71, to be contained in the sheet storing mechanism 63A.
Generally speaking, in such an image forming apparatus, from the viewpoint of improving productivity and convenience, for example, there are not a few cases where it is required a sorting process for classifying ejected sheets into sheets ejected during the use of the copying function and sheets ejected during the use of the facsimile or printer function.
However, in an image forming apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, even though a hollow place 62 of a sufficient size is not secured, it is necessary to provide a plurality of sheet storing mechanisms, which lowers the sheet storing capacity of each sheet storing mechanism, and also makes it difficult to take out sheets contained in said sheet storing mechanism, to lower the productivity and convenience instead.
For such a problem, as shown in FIG. 7, there is an apparatus having a structure with its large height size to secure the hollow place 62 of a sufficient size, and being provided with a reception and print sheet storing part 69A composed of a sheet storing mechanism, a tray for example, for storing sheets ejected during the use of the facsimile or printer function, and a copy sheet storing part 69B which is a sheet storing mechanism for storing sheets ejected during the use of the copying function.
The sheet conveyance path 70 in this image forming apparatus 60A has a bifurcation path 70A leading to the reception and print sheet storing part 69A and a bifurcation path 70B leading to the copied sheet storing part 69B, and a switching guide 72 is provided at the bifurcation point.
However, in this image forming apparatus 60A, even in cases where the copying function is not used, the bifurcation path 70B leading to the copy sheet ejection part 69B has been formed beforehand in the mainframe of the image forming apparatus 60A, which increases the manufacturing cost accompanied by the increase of the number of the component parts and makes the whole of the apparatus large-sized; therefore, it is unreasonable for a user who does not use the sorting function provided in the image forming apparatus 60A for some reasons.
This invention has been made on the basis of the above-mentioned things, and it is its object to provide an image forming apparatus whose function a user can freely intend to diversify.
It is another object of this invention to provide an image forming apparatus which has a large capacity for storing sheets of each sheet storing tray and makes it possible to take out the contained sheets easily when an ejected sheet stacking mechanism is selectively mounted to the image forming apparatus.
It is further object of this invention to provide a new ejected sheet stacking device to be selectively mounted to an image forming apparatus of this invention.
The objects of this invention can be accomplished by any one of the structures described below.
(1) An image forming apparatus of this invention is an image forming apparatus having a sheet ejection part formed in a hollow place formed in such a manner as to open to the outside through the outer housing and being provided with a sheet storing mechanism for storing sheets ejected from a sheet ejection opening in such a way that it is able to be mounted and dismounted, characterized in that an ejected sheet stacking device can be mounted in the sheet ejection part instead of the sheet storing mechanism, and said ejected sheet stacking device is provided with a plurality of sheet storing trays arranged in a multi-stage way in the vertical direction, an ejecting and conveying mechanism for conveying a sheet from said sheet ejection opening to one of said sheet storing trays, and a conveyance path switching mechanism for switching a bifurcating conveyance path which bifurcates in such a manner as to lead to each of said sheet storing trays from said sheet ejection opening.
In an image forming apparatus of this invention, it is desirable that the hollow place formed in such a manner as to open to the outside through the outer housing comprises a first space portion succeeding to the sheet ejection opening and a second space portion succeeding to this first space portion in the sheet ejecting direction, and the level of the bottom surface of the second space portion is lower than the level of the bottom surface of the first space portion; in this case, it is desirable that the ejected sheet stacking device is mounted in a state where each of the sheet storing trays is positioned in the second space portion in said hollow place.
(2) An image forming apparatus of this invention is an image forming apparatus having a sheet ejection part formed in a hollow place formed in such a manner as to open to the outside through the outer housing and being provided, in said sheet ejection part, with a sheet storing mechanism for storing sheets ejected from a sheet ejection opening, in such a way that it is able to be mounted and dismounted, characterized in that an ejected sheet stacking device can be mounted in the sheet ejection part instead of the sheet storing mechanism, said ejected sheet stacking device is provided with a plurality of sheet storing trays arranged in a multi-stage way in the vertical direction, an ejecting and conveying mechanism for conveying a sheet from said sheet ejection opening to one of said sheet storing trays, and a conveyance path switching mechanism for switching a bifurcating conveyance path which bifurcates in such a manner as to lead to each of said sheet storing trays from said sheet ejection opening, and an ejected sheet stacking device of a second stage having the same structure as said ejected sheet stacking device can be mounted instead of a sheet storing tray corresponding to one of the bifurcation paths in said ejected sheet stacking device.
In the above-mentioned image forming apparatus, it is desirable that the hollow place formed in such a manner as to open to the outside through the outer housing comprises a first space portion succeeding to the sheet ejecting part and a second space portion succeeding to this first space portion in the sheet ejecting direction, both being formed in a state where the bottom surface of the second space portion is lower than the bottom surface of the first space portion, and the first-stage ejected sheet stacking device is mounted utilizing the first space portion, while the second-stage ejected sheet stacking device is mounted utilizing the second space portion.
(3) Further, an image forming apparatus of this invention is an image forming apparatus having a sheet ejection part formed in a hollow place formed in such a manner as to open to the outside through outer housing and being provided, in said sheet ejection part, with a sheet storing mechanism for storing sheets ejected from a sheet ejection opening, in such a way that it is able to be mounted and dismounted, characterized in that an ejected sheet stacking device can be mounted instead of said sheet storing mechanism through an opening for mounting formed by cutting off the protective cover portion of the inner wall partitioning said hollow place from said inner wall, and said ejected sheet stacking device is provided with a plurality of sheet storing trays arranged in a multi-stage way in the vertical direction, an ejecting and conveying mechanism for conveying a sheet from said sheet ejection opening to one of said sheet storing trays, and a conveyance path switching mechanism for switching a bifurcating conveyance path which bifurcates in such a manner as to lead to each of said sheet storing trays from said sheet ejection opening.
(4) An ejected sheet stacking device of this invention is provided with a plurality of sheet storing trays arranged in a multi-stage way in the vertical direction, an ejecting and conveying mechanism for conveying a sheet from the sheet ejection opening of an image forming apparatus to one of said sheet storing trays, and a conveyance path switching mechanism for switching a bifurcating conveyance path which bifurcates in such a manner as to lead to each of said sheet storing trays from said sheet ejection opening, and is characterized in that, for an image forming apparatus having a sheet ejection part formed in a hollow place to open to the outside through the outer housing and being provided, in said sheet ejection part, with a sheet storing mechanism for storing sheets ejected from said sheet ejection opening, said ejected sheet stacking device is mounted instead of said sheet storing mechanism.
In an ejected sheet stacking device of this invention, it is desirable that it is provided in each of the sheet storing trays a auxiliary tray which is capable of being inserted and drawn out in the direction of entering sheets.
Further, it is desirable that an ejected sheet stacking device of this invention is mounted through an opening for mounting which is formed in the inner wall partitioning a hollow place of an image forming apparatus so as to expose the portion to be connected to the ejected sheet stacking device, and is provided with a holding portion for holding a cover member for stopping said opening for mounting which is left behind after said ejected sheet stacking device is dismounted from the image forming apparatus.
By employing an image forming apparatus having the above-mentioned structure (1), because an ejected sheet stacking device provided with a plurality of sheet storing trays and a switching mechanism can be alternatively mounted instead of a sheet storing mechanism, a user can intend to diversify the function of the image forming apparatus freely as the occasion demands.
Further, because an ejecting and conveying mechanism, a bifurcating conveyance path, and a switching mechanism are provided in the ejected sheet stacking device to be mounted, it is unnecessary to provide component parts for sorting processing in the mainframe of the image forming apparatus, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced by this, which makes the apparatus useful also for a user who does not need a sorting function.
Further, in the case where the above-mentioned ejected sheet stacking device provided with a plurality of trays and a switching mechanism is mounted instead of the sheet storing mechanism in the sheet ejection part, for example, copy sheets ejected during the use of the copying function, and reception and print sheets ejected during the use of the facsimile function etc. can be certainly contained in different sheet storing trays respectively, without the mixed presence of the both kinds of sheets.
Further, in the case where the hollow place formed in the outer housing has a first space portion and a second space portion whose bottom surface level is lower than that of the first space portion, by mounting an ejected sheet stacking device in such a way that the sheet storing trays arranged in a multi-stage way are positioned in the second space portion, the distance between the sheet storing trays can be made large, which makes it possible to raise the sheet storing capacity of each sheet storing trays, and also makes it possible to take out the contained sheets easily.
Further, by employing an image forming apparatus having the above-mentioned structure (2), in a state where a first-stage ejected sheet stacking device is mounted in the hollow place, a second-stage ejected sheet stacking device can be further mounted; therefore, the number of sheet storing trays can be increased as the occasion demands, and on top of it, because the second-stage ejected sheet stacking device can be mounted substantially in the hollow place, the occupied area for installation never becomes broader by a large margin.
Further, by employing an image forming apparatus having the above-mentioned structure (3), in the case where an ejected sheet stacking device is not mounted, the connection part for the ejected sheet stacking device is covered with a protective cover portion of the inner wall partitioning the hollow place; therefore, said connection part is protected, and in the case where an ejected sheet stacking device is mounted, because the connection part is exposed through the formation of an opening for mounting by cutting off the protective cover portion, only it is necessary to connect the ejected sheet stacking device through inserting it into the hollow place, which makes it possible to mount the device very easily.
Further, in the case where an ejected sheet stacking device has once been mounted, and then it is to be dismounted for some reasons, because a cover member for stopping the opening for mounting is provided at the holding portion in the ejected sheet stacking device, it never occurs that the cover member is lost, which makes it possible to certainly protect the connection part.